If at the end of a race you know yourself that you have done your best, you're a winner.

Men of Oregon, I invite you to become students of your events. Running, one might say, is basically an absurd past-time upon which to be exhausting ourselves. But if you can find meaning, in the kind of running you have to do to stay on this team, chances are you will be able to find meaning in another absurd past-time: life.

Now to explore the limits of the one competitor above everyone else you've always loved to face: Steve Prefontaine.

A teacher is never too smart to learn from his pupils.

The real purpose of running isn't to win a race, it's to test the limits of the human heart.

If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' ignore him! What the hell difference does it make?.... The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.

Several of my critics have said, 'Bowerman just tacks up a piece of paper in the locker room and turns his runners loose.' They're partially right. I do give the athletes a relatively free rein and for good reason. One of my principles is? 'Don't overcoach.'